#43 AN INSPECTOR CALLS

J.B. PRIESTLEY’S CLASSIC THRILLERWINNER OF 19 MAJOR AWARDSIn English, with French surtitles

You have the opportunity to meet the cast after the performance on the 28th January.

[EN] From Stephen Daldry, the Oscar nominated director of The Reader, The Hours and Billy Elliot, comes the multi award-winning West End production of J.B. Priestley’s classic thriller An Inspector Calls.

Hailed as the theatrical event of our generation winning more awards than any other play in history, this landmark production from the National Theatre has thrilled audiences in the West End, on Broadway and throughout the world with its epic and wildly imaginative staging, raw emotion, evocative score, lashing rain and chilling suspense.

When Inspector Goole arrives unexpectedly at the prosperous Birling family home, their peaceful dinner party is shattered by his investigations into the death of a young woman. His startling revelations shake the very foundations of their lives and challenge us all to examine our consciences.

At the ragged, ruined end of the Second World War, Priestley wrote an indictment of laissez-faire capitalism that was framed as a pastiche Edwardian thriller, in which industrialist Birling and his family confront their complicity in the suicide of a destitute local woman. It is staged within a doll’s house on stilts, perched above some blackened, Blitz-blasted street. But, by playing it before a crowd of 1940s witnesses, Daldry implies that these Edwardian toffs will soon get their comeuppance. “The time will come”, warns Inspector Goole, “when they will be taught [their lesson] in fire and blood and anguish.” But, two world wars notwithstanding, the world’s Mr Birlings haven’t learned that lesson yet. By setting both periods on stage simultaneously, Daldry creates a running conversation between past and future, cause and effect, dream and reality. What could just be a soap-box for socialism becomes a multi-layered, mind-blowing box of tricks.

Priestley’s play is carefully plotted and remains great fun. The set, designed by Ian MacNeil, has won all of the awards going and, even on a second or third visit to the play, still makes a massive impact with a red telephone booth in one of the boxes at the side of the stage, the stage itself bent and buckled and the classic, symbolic doll’s house in which some of the action takes place. When Rick Fisher’s superb lighting and Stephen Warbeck’s slightly melodramatic music are added, a good night at the theatre is guaranteed.

The rich and powerful, argues Priestley, must be saved from themselves. Its critique of I’m-all-right-Jack individualism is as relevant today as it was in the 90s. This play is a must-see for anybody who loves the theatre and it should also be high on the list for anyone who wants to be sure of a safe, enjoyable night out with some real surprises.